By Joshua Boyd / NCDCHockey.com
It was a busy week as the East came out of the USPHL Jersey Hitmen Classic and the Mountain Division had a full slate of action. The South Shore Kings are the dominant team league-wide, winning 11 in a row, and they’ve taken over the top spot overall in the points race. The Mercer Chiefs are coming up quick behind them, having won nine games in a row. In the Mountain, the back-and-forth continues between historic Salt Lake regional rivals the Utah Outliers and Ogden Mustangs. The Outliers, on a seven-game point streak, are one point ahead of the Mustangs, on a nine-game run of points. Other surging teams to keep an eye on are the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders (five-game point streak) and the Rockets Hockey Club (four-game point streak).
Lots to take a dive into here, and we’ll continue to focus on the teams that registered at least a point per game played between Oct. 24-30.
South Shore Kings Extend Winning Streak to 11 Games, Take Over First
The Kings made it 11, extending their record winning streak into double digits on Oct. 25 against the Worcester Railers JHC (4-3 win). They followed that up on Oct. 26 with a 5-1 victory against the Thunder Hockey Club. The winning streak has helped them by pass the Jersey Hitmen by one point for first place overall in the NCDC.
- The Kings’ 11-game winning streak is tied for second-longest in the league since 2020-21, standing eight games short of the record streak set in 2018-19 by the Jersey Hitmen.
- Will Rassier (‘04/Princeton, N.J.) went into the weekend as the leading scorer in the NCDC, temporarily fell to second behind the Rockets Hockey Club’s Jared Rothman, and regained it again with a 7-11-18 line in 12 games.
Utah Outliers Come Away With Five Points In Three Games
The Outliers are enjoying a seven-game point streak, which has allowed them to jump one point ahead of the Ogden Mustangs in the Mountain Division. Heading to their current 4-0-2-1 run, they defeated the Rock Springs Grizzlies, 4-3, on Oct. 25. From there, over Saturday and Sunday, they split with the Pueblo Bulls, winning 3-1 and falling 3-2 in overtime.
- Garrett Joss (‘04/Whitby, Ont.), who entered this season as the Outliers’ all-time leading NCDC scorer, has remained so with a team-leading 10 points in 13 games.
- American International College recruit Marcus Ouellet (‘04/Toronto, Ont.) moved up to 495 minutes, fifth-most in the league, after he remained undefeated in regulation at 5-0-1-0 coming off a win against Rock Springs and an OT loss against Pueblo.
Idaho Falls Spud Kings Win Pair, Stand At Third In Tight Mountain Pack
The Spud Kings enjoyed a pair of big wins against the Casper Warbirds, winning 4-1 and 7-2 to improve to 8-4-0-0 for 16 points, a five-point improvement on where they were at the 12-game mark in 2023-24. They are one point behind the Ogden Mustangs and two behind the division-leading Utah Outliers.
- The Spud Kings improved from 2.20 goals against to 2.08 as a team, moving into the third-best defensive showing of the NCDC season so far.
- Easton Edwards (‘05/Anchorage, Alaska) scored three points over the weekend to take the team lead in scoring with a 4-9-13 line. In net, Charlie Durkin (‘06/Glencoe, Ill.) improved to 4-3-0-0 and Joseph Bertram (‘06/Edina, Minn.) picked up his first junior win on Oct. 26 with a 30-win victory.
Mercer Chiefs Extend Winning Streak To Nine Games, Covering Entire October Schedule
The Atlantic Division-leading Jersey Hitmen are looking over their shoulders to see the Mercer Chiefs gaining ground, winning their last nine in a row to pull up to just three points back of the Hitmen. They finished their 9-0 October with a pair of wins against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights, 5-1 and 6-3 .
- The Chiefs improved their goals per game from 3.00 to 3.38 over the last week, which vaulted them from ninth in the league in that category up to a tie for fourth with the Rockets Hockey Club.
- Veteran Gregory Diamond (‘04/West Chester, Pa.) scored a 3-3-6 line in the series against WBS Knights and now has the second-most goals in the league with eight. In the same vein, defenseman Jake Stevens (‘05/Newton, N.J.) registered three power play assists last weekend and is now tied for No. 1 league-wide in that category with seven.
Northern Cyclones Stand In Second In New England With Three-Game W Streak
The Cyclones are enjoying a bit of a hot streak as they approach November. They have won three in a row, and have moved up to second in the New England Division with a record of 8-2-0-2. The Cyclones won a pair of games on Saturday and Sunday by identical scores, 5-2 and 5-2, both against the Boston Jr. Rangers.
- The Cyclones do not shy away from the net, as they pulled up to second overall in shots on goal per game at 38.92 per contest, up from 37.40 a week ago.
- Second-year Cyclone Michael Markowski (‘04/Spring Lake, N.J.) scored two more goals this past weekend to move into a tie for first in league goal-scoring with 10, and his 15 points moved him up in the overall points leaderboard from fifth to fourth. Goaltender Paul Dalessio (‘05/Burlington, Mass.) held on to his league lead – albeit tied for first – in save percentage at .966.
West Chester Wolves Win Pair To Jump Into Third In Atlantic
The Wolves defeated the Connecticut Jr. Rangers twice to improve to 7-5-1-1, winning 4-3 in an Oct. 25 shootout and getting a 5-2 win on Oct. 26.
- Veteran goaltender Griffin Davis (‘05/Nashua, N.H.) moved into first in NCDC saves with 336 and was third in wins with six.
- Rookie Roman Cicco (‘05/Export, Pa.) scored his second game-winning goal of the season on Oct. 26, putting him into a tie for the league lead in GWG’s by a defenseman. Two of his three goals this season are winners.
Rockets Hockey Club Pick Up Three Points, Stay Unbeaten In Regulation Over Five
The Rockets opened last weekend with a 5-2 victory against the Jersey Hitmen, and followed that up with a 4-3 overtime loss to the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders. They ended October without having lost in regulation since the 11th of the month, going 4-0-1-0 to close the month. After early season stumbles in September, the Rockets are right in a congested pack of four teams within seven points of the division-leading Hitmen.
- The Rockets have not lost in regulation to the Hitmen in their last four meetings going back to last season and recently picked up their 11th win against the Hitmen in their 44-game NCDC rivalry.
- Rockets leading scorer Jared Rothman (‘06/Chappaqua, N.Y.) was one of three players this past week to score their third GWG, putting him into a four-way tie for the league lead in that category.
Utica Jr. Comets Earn Three Points From Win, Shootout Loss
The Jr. Comets are working their way up the New England standings, recently picking up points in their past three games. During the past weekend, they defeated the Islanders Hockey Club by a 3-1 score and then fell 4-3 in a shootout.
- On Oct. 26, the Islanders’ Alexei Filimonov was awarded a penalty shot against Dylan Eliason. Eliason (‘04/Northville, Mich.) made the save and has two of the three saves on six penalty shots this season. The other was made by the Jr. Comets’ Michael Valenta (‘05/Sumperk, Czechia), making Utica the only team to give up zero goals via penalty shots in games where they’ve been awarded.
- Second-year Jr. Comet Daniel Urban (‘04/Orchard Park, N.Y.) continues to lead the Jr. Comets in scoring with 10 points in 11 games.
Ogden Mustangs, P.A.L. Jr. Islanders Take Wins In Sole Action Of Week
The Ogden Mustangs played a single game on Friday as they hosted the Pueblo Bulls, and won 4-3. The Mustangs are on a seven-game winning streak and they’ve earned points in their last nine games. They close a six-game home stand this weekend with games against Idaho Falls and Pueblo.
The P.A.L. Jr. Islanders also saw just a single game against the Rockets Hockey Club, and it was a productive outing resulting in a 4-3 win and extending their winning streak to five games. They hit the ice today for a Halloween matinee against the West Chester Wolves.
Islanders HC, Thunder HC, Spartans Each Finish Week With .500 Splits
As aforementioned, the Islanders Hockey Club fell to Utica, 3-1, and then turned around to win in a 4-3 shootout. They were able to maintain third place with the two points, along with the Thunder Hockey Club, who also went 1-1 on the week. The Thunder defeated the Seacoast Spartans on Oct. 25, and then fell on Oct. 26 to the South Shore Kings.
The Seacoast Spartans bounced back from their Oct. 25 4-1 loss to the Thunder Hockey Club to defeat the Boston Jr. Rangers, 3-2, on Oct. 30 for their second victory of the season. The first memorably happened in OT against the previously undefeated Jersey Hitmen on Oct. 17 at the Hitmen Classic.
